Your Canon Photos No. 37: 14th to 20th January 2024

This weekly thread is principally intended for you to showcase your photos made with Canon cameras of all sorts: SLR, DSLR, Mirrorless, M-series, APS-C, film, etc. But any brand of camera will be accepted, including photos taken with your phone. We do enjoy reading an accompanying text explaining your photo and any special techniques you may have used. Comments and helpful criticisms on others' photos are also welcome: we can all learn something from each other. We look forward to seeing your contributions and new participants to this series of threads are always welcome!

A new thread for the following week will be posted next Saturday around 10 pm UK time.

Digirame and I will be active here and are sharing the hosting, but we are used to all joining in and commenting on others' photos.

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Review of last week

The previous discussion of printers was continued. The model numbers seem to differ in the USA and Europe. I looked at Canon's website and was quite staggered to see how many different models they have. I have never had a colour printer, and decided that I would have to wait until I have more time to explore all the options. Thirty years ago I had a Canon inkjet printer: it produced excellent results (text only), but was absolutely addicted to the cartidges it used. By comparison, my HP Laser Deskjet (B&W only) has only had the toner replaced twice in 20 years!

Digirame posted an excellent series of shots of people photographing people, and I seriously intend to create an ongoing thread with this theme.

Photobygms took advantage of sun to take a trek in the Dwingelderveld Park and came back with evocative shots of trees, some with birds in them. He also took some excellent black and white film photos.

Simplejoy had rain. So, undaunted, he took advantage of it and came up with some imaginative photos with nice colours. Later in the week his rain had also changed to frost.

Stig took us to Venice and the carnival time, when exotic and elaborate masks are still very popular.

Wolfshead joined in with some more masks -- a nice sharp picture with the Nikon D70, and no need to apologise: please join us.

MikaY, in -20°C Helsinki, Finland, visited a light festival and showed us some interesting exhibits taken with his R7. He also took some lovely picture of small birds against the snow.

Dunlin claimed that spring had sprung in southern England, but he seems to have been a little early in that declaration. I hope the plants survive.

Last week and the coming weeks are going to present us all with challenging weather. I shall look indoors for inspiration.

David

Subject: Sauvie Island

At the end of last October I was able to get out to Sauvie Island. It's an agricultural area that also has wildlife. The beaches along the Columbia River are filled with people during the summer. This time of year, although, there were no other people other than myself and the people I was traveling with. Since I was a passenger in a car, I was able to take quite a few pictures while we were moving along. Consequently, that's why the shutter speeds were often very high. I hope you enjoy seeing some of this countryside.

Photo No. 1 - As we crossed over the bridge to Sauvie Island, I first saw this wildlife. It was a little hazy.

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/800 seconds
FNumber - 11
ISOSpeedRatings - 640
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 135 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 2 - This is along the Columbia River.

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 250
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 56 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 3 - Again....

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 320
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 35 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 4 - And again....

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 20 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 5 - We see some farmland with some dried out corn stalks.

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/1600 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 500
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 18 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 6 - And a dairy farm....

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/1600 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 1000
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 20 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 7 - Another farm....

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/1600 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 800
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 19 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 8 - We did not go to this Pumpkin Patch. But next year we probably should. It looked pretty big.

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/1600 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 1000
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 27 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 9 - I was fortunate to be able to photograph this corn with the shutter speed that I used, being that it was close and we were moving fast.

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/1600 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 1600
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 18 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

Photo No. 10 - And finally, there's one more photo, as we cross the bridge from this island back to the mainland.

Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7i
ExposureTime - 1/1600 seconds
FNumber - 10
ISOSpeedRatings - 5000
ExposureBiasValue - 0
FocalLength - 29 mm
Lens Model - EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

I like this one. The shapes of the wood and stuff the river left there when it was higher creates a sort of path and the composition and balance is very nice.

How about some bird shots:

Commercial bird photography by simple.joy, on Flickr

Like a fir-nix from the ashes... by simple.joy, on Flickr

Am I just salty for the lack of ideas? by simple.joy, on Flickr

Not what you expected? 😉

You're not alone, I do find that image also be best one, How the lines flow through the image and the clouds on top 😉

Dig,

I liked this one. The leading lines lead straight into the horizon and the house is slight;y off-center, giving the picture a balanced look.

I know you were probably rushed for time, but I think this would have been a good candidate for a long exposure shot with the clouds streaking right at you.

Steve Thomas

Simplejoy,

Thanks. I'm glad you like the composition. Walking along that beach made me feel free. It's nice to have these wide open spaces.

Simplejoy,

I wasn't expecting this for birds photos. I like the blue sparkly background in the first image. In the first picture, the white and black object could be either a flying bird or something like a dog jumping. Have you tried taking pictures of actual birds or wildlife with a wide or normal lens? I did that, the other day. I think they were better than what I could get with a telephoto lens. The reason is that the sun was setting and it was getting dark. I was also lucky that the nutria and geese that were walking along, let me get close. Oh...another neat photo I took with the normal lens was seeing these geese flying in formation high in the sky. They only could be captured (to get all of them) with that lens.

Photobygms,

Thanks. I'm glad you liked seeing this one with the beaches of Suavie Island along the Columbia River.

Steve,

Thanks. I'm glad you liked seeing the farmland with the dried out corn stalks. Yes, I was rushed for time in a way. I took this from a moving car (as a passenger). In a way, it's kind of stressful taking these kinds of pictures, because you want to have good composition, no motion blur and good depth of field all at the same time. But fortunately, some straightening and cropping can help with that composition later on the computer. Plus I found that taking multiple pictures at the same time helps too, because the brain can not process this quickly enough. I think the clouds in this one looked good without HDR. If I had time and I knew what I know now, I would have probably have been playing around with that too.

I was determined to venture out today, despite the cold weather and cycled to the Donau Insel (where I was in the dark, three weeks ago, at Christmas). On that trip I had noticed a clump of trees laden with mistletoe, and this was my destination. Last time I used the Leica: I took my Canon R6 this time

I dont know what kind of a tree it is, or why some trees attract mistletoe and others dont; but the parasite is very common on the eastern outskirts of Vienna.

A close shot of what look like three clumps of mistletoe -- one of them with berries!

Turning around, I could see Leopoldsberg in the distance (this is a crop).

And a view of the Neue Donau, downstream. That bank will be covered in people in the summer. (Simplejoy commented on the strange-looking ripples on the water last time, and I can confirm that this is what they actually looked like, due to the strong cold wind.)

On the way home I couldnt resist another shot of the skyscrapers on the other side of the river. I am not sure whether they look better in daylight, or lit up at night. The middle of the three has still not achieved its full height.

And St Francis Church on the Vienna side of the river.

The ride home was quite a challenge, as I had to contend with a strong and cold head wind, but I am sure the exercise did me good.

I took all these with the RF 24-240mm lens. The combination is heavier than my Leica and the lens is ultimately not quite as sharp, but the abilty to zoom has its advantage and the R6 does feel comfortable in the hand with this lens. I also noticed in processing that I need very different settings than for the Leica. It will take me some time to get used to the difference between these two cameras, which do complement each other.

David

David,

Your photos of the mistletoe were interesting. I had to read about them. I don/t know why they infect some trees, but leave other trees alone. I saw the lens you used (the RF 24-240mm lens) in a store. When not extended it looked rather compact compared to my RF 24-105mm lens. Even though it was cold, the sunshine and blue sky look great. Those skyscrapers appear huge. The St. Francis church is beautiful. That's neat that it has a clock too. I hope you enjoyed your ride. Was it below or above the freezing mark?

The RF24-240 is a good lens. The only other zooms I have are EF70-300 and EF17-40, both of which require the adaptor. The big tower is 250 metres tall. I am not quite sure why it was considered so necessary to build it, given that there is plenty of land around and the rest of the city is much lower. I will take some pictures inside the church one day soon. The temperature was hovering around 0°C, but the strong wind must have given quite an additional chill factor.

David

I do agree the RF 24-240 is a gem so to say. 😉
We actually own two and use them also both (on a R and RP)
It's a perfect lens for when you want reach and have to travel light

Subject: Snow in the Valleys

Well, I was able to get outdoors yesterday to take pictures of the snow. We did get snow in the valleys. You'll notice that there is very little traffic. The reason for that, is because since we only get snow a few times a year or sometimes nothing, a lot of people do not know how to drive in it. So that's why the streets look so empty.

I hope you enjoy these. I took a lot more at a park, in a forest, along more streets and a parking lot. I'll show those later.

Tomorrow we may get freezing rain. I don't know if I'll be able to get pictures of that. It looks neat to see the frozen ice on the tree branches.

If you also have some snow and/or ice pictures, I would love to see them. 😀 Oh, I should mention...wow...it was so cold that my fingers hurt. I had to take off the heavy mittens because otherwise using the camera was almost impossible to use. I kept "fat fingering" the settings, where twice I had error messages and once I got an indication that the battery was failing. But after I decided to not wear the mittens, everything was fine. Later, I then let the hands warm up in the camera bag. So I went back and forth with that, first to take the pictures with bare hands and then later let them warm up.

Photo No. 1

Model - Canon EOS M50m2
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 7.10
ISOSpeedRatings - 320
ExposureBiasValue - 0.33
FocalLength - 18 mm
Lens Model - EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM

Photo No. 2

Model - Canon EOS M50m2
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 7.10
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
ExposureBiasValue - 0.33
FocalLength - 24 mm
Lens Model - EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM

Photo No. 3

Model - Canon EOS M50m2
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 7.10
ISOSpeedRatings - 250
ExposureBiasValue - 0.33
FocalLength - 15 mm
Lens Model - EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM

Photo No. 4

Model - Canon EOS M50m2
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 7.10
ISOSpeedRatings - 250
ExposureBiasValue - 0.33
FocalLength - 24 mm
Lens Model - EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM

Photo No. 5

Model - Canon EOS M50m2
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 7.10
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
ExposureBiasValue - 0.33
FocalLength - 34 mm
Lens Model - EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM

No, not really! I don't get around too much, so the only animals I would be able to capture would be the usual suspects, like sparrows, blackbirds and crows, perhaps some buzzard here and there (they sometimes get into air fights with the crows, which are great to watch, but would be very hard to capture, because they are quite short - given the crows are way more efficient - and there are lots of trees in the way).

That being said, if insects and smaller animals count... yes, I've taken quite a few shots, even though it's not my main interest in the macro world:

Transluce-Ant by simple.joy, on Flickr

Already wearing the fall collection? by simple.joy, on Flickr

A dead end, ant! And now? by simple.joy, on Flickr

Beeing the center of attention by simple.joy, on Flickr

When did it get so green? by simple.joy, on Flickr

There‘s a bug going around… by simple.joy, on Flickr

Looking up spiders? Not really my thing. by simple.joy, on Flickr

Wasp up with that? by simple.joy, on Flickr

A-legged wasp by simple.joy, on Flickr

Back to busyness! by simple.joy, on Flickr

Hoverly confident - missing the target by simple.joy, on Flickr

Colorful free-bee by simple.joy, on Flickr

Great that you were successful capturing those things happening on short notice! I guess it's one of the drawbacks of working exclusively with old lenses on a bellows - I can't just point at something and capture it. I have to be at least a little bit prepared and bring the right lens and mounting (so I can focus to infinity... not all of my lenses are able to).

Simplejoy,

I like seeing the insects. You have quite a variety. I enjoyed seeing them over and over. The backgrounds work well too.

The photo of the bee is superb. I like seeing bees from the side like that.

Something a little different as far as my photos are concerned; I went to an old friend's birthday party that continued to early hours, including live music, DJs, plenty of time in sauna and significant amounts of booze.

Waiting for sparking wine

One of the DJs playing